Child maintenance during the COVID-19 crisis
If you pay or receive child maintenance and the Coronavirus crisis has affected your income, you may be wondering what to do. The Government has laid down some new guidelines to help you. Let’s find out more.
More than seven million workers in the UK are currently on furlough due to the Coronavirus, with the Government guaranteeing 80% of their income. While this scheme was devised to dissuade employers from making their staff redundant, many workers will have already lost their jobs.
If you are in this situation, and you are paying child maintenance to your ex-partner to support your children, you may be wondering where you stand. Do you still need to pay? Alternatively, if you receive child maintenance payments and you know your ex-partner is on furlough leave, you may be concerned about whether your payments will arrive.
The Government has clarified the rules around child maintenance during the COVID-19 crisis. In this article, we’ll talk you through the new advice.
How was your child maintenance agreed?
The amount you must pay, or the amount you are entitled to receive, depends on how you agreed to administrate child maintenance when you ended your relationship. Examples would be:
Informal agreement - child maintenance figures not laid down in a formal written agreement.
Formal agreement - A written agreement exists setting out the amount of child maintenance to be paid. This could be a court order.
Child Maintenance Service (CMS) - The amount of child maintenance is set and monitored by the CMS regulatory body.
Let’s look at each of these in turn.
Informal agreement
While it’s excellent for former partners to reach an amicable settlement regarding financial support for their children, if it is not documented, it can be troublesome if circumstances change.
If one party has a drop in income, such as through furlough or redundancy, there is nothing to say that they can automatically lower their child maintenance amount.
If you are in this situation, your best advice is to try and come to a new temporary agreement with your ex-partner. Do not stop paying, as it could affect the financial situation of your children.
Formal agreement
Whether you can alter your formal child maintenance agreement to reflect your new circumstances depends on the nature of the agreement itself. Is there a clause that deals with one party experiencing a sudden drop in income? Unless something like this is explicitly specified, you will still have to pay the initially agreed amount.
If there is no such clause, and you are struggling to pay, you should talk to your ex-partner to try to reach a new temporary agreement, which should be put in writing. You are advised to get a family lawyer to help you draft the new agreement.
Again, do not stop paying, as this will put you in breach of your agreement and if you have a court order, your ex-partner could apply to court to enforce it and seek costs against you. If your income has reduced but you have savings, you should use these to pay the child maintenance until your income position improves. If this is unlikely to happen and you cannot reach an agreement regarding child maintenance, you should apply to the court to vary the order on the basis that there has been a change in your financial circumstances. The same guidance would apply if you are paying spousal maintenance under a court order, rather than child maintenance
Child Maintenance Service
Parents who have their child maintenance calculated and regulated by the CMS are the only ones who automatically have some leeway.
If your income has reduced by 25% or more due to the Coronavirus crisis, the CMS will adjust the amount you have to pay.
It is important to point out, however, that if you are on furlough with 80% of your income guaranteed by the Government, you do not qualify for this help.
If you are in this situation, talk directly to the CMS to discuss your new circumstances. If you stop paying, child maintenance arrears will accrue and you will be expected to pay them back.
Communication is key
The essential message for everyone in this situation is, do not stop paying your child maintenance. It will affect the lifestyle of your children and could land you in breach of a court order, or owing arrears of child maintenance.
Instead, talk to your ex-partner and explain what has happened openly and honestly. Please bear in mind that they could be facing challenges because of the crisis, and they may be worried about how they will cope without this source of income.
It may also be useful to talk to a family lawyer. A family lawyer can help you design a new agreement, as well as arrange a court order which will help you avoid problems further down the line.
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